CBI charges RCom and former LIC investment chief in ₹3,750 crore fraud case

The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a charge sheet against Reliance Communications, two former executives of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group, and a former investment chief at the Life Insurance Corporation of India over an alleged ₹3,750 crore fraud.

The formal charges, presented to a special CBI court in Mumbai, name the telecommunications company alongside Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, the former group managing director of the Reliance ADA Group, and Vishwas Joshi, who served as senior vice-president at Reliance Capital. P. Venugopal, who was LIC’s chief investment officer when the deal took place, has also been charged.

According to the CBI, the roots of the fraud go back to 2012. The agency alleges that LIC was misled into buying ₹1,500 crore worth of non-convertible debentures issued by Reliance Communications, commonly known as RCom, based on "serious misrepresentations".

Once the money was in, it did not stay with the telecom company. The CBI alleges that the funds raised through the debentures were systematically diverted to other companies within the Reliance ADA Group. This movement of capital allegedly caused a massive, wrongful loss to the state-owned insurer, while delivering corresponding illegal gains to the accused executives and corporate entities.

The four accused have been charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating, and criminal breach of trust under the Indian Penal Code, in addition to bribery and corruption charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The federal agency has made it clear that the investigation remains open, with officers still working to trace the roles of other potential co-conspirators and look into further allegations.

The CBI initially took up the case on 1 April 2026, following a formal complaint filed by LIC. By that point, the total calculated loss to the insurer from the soured investment had reached ₹3,750 crore.

A wider investigation

This case is not an isolated one. It is part of a sweeping federal investigation into the financial affairs of several former Anil Ambani group companies.

The CBI has registered nine separate first information reports against various group entities, including Reliance Home Finance, Reliance Commercial Finance, and Reliance Telecom, following similar complaints from a consortium of public sector banks, LIC, and the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation.

The agency has already filed seven other charge sheets in related cases, all of which are being closely monitored by the Supreme Court of India.